The European Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, assured this Saturday that the European Union (EU) is “well prepared” to face a total stoppage in the supply of Russian gas, thanks to energy storage and saving measures.
“We are well prepared to resist the extreme use of Russian gas as a weapon. We are not afraid of Putin’s decisions, we ask the Russians to respect the contracts, but if they don’t, we are ready to react,” said Paolo Gentiloni. on the sidelines of the Economic Forum organized by the European House-Ambrosetti, in Cernobbio, on Lake Como, Italy.
Russian gas company Gazprom said on Friday that the Nord Stream gas pipeline between Russia and northern Germany, which was due to resume service today after a three-day interruption for maintenance work, would be idled and inoperative until a turbine is repaired. , without advancing a term to that effect.
According to analysts, Moscow decided to use this pretext to react to the decision announced on Friday by the G7 countries to limit oil prices, thus hitting Russia’s profits.
On the other hand, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said this Friday that “it was about time” to put a cap on the price of gas imported through the gas pipeline from Russia, thus supporting a solution advocated by the Prime Minister. Italian, Mario Draghi.
In the EU, “gas storage is currently around 80%, thanks to the diversification of supply,” although the situation is different from country to country, Gentiloni said.
Source: TSF
